The Letter
by willgirl
Summary: Booth sits down to try to express his feelings to Brennan in a letter
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: ****So this came to me at work and originally it was going to be a oneshot but now I see it as four chapters long. For A2b, for her birthday! The Lyrics are from a song called Write You a Letter by Ray Lamontagne. Hope you enjoy!**

_**If I told you how I'm feeling  
And how my heart was always reeling  
Then maybe you could understand me a little better  
If I was to write you a letter**_

Booth sat, pen in hand staring at the blank paper in front of him. He had hoped that this time version would work out better than the oral presentation he gave earlier in her office.

He groaned as he remembered the look of shock on her face as he tried to stumble through an explanation of his feelings for her. Gone were the snappy comebacks, the teasing, all he did was ramble on about partnership and then end with 'how bout it?'

It was disaster and nothing less. She just stared at him and then made some comment about how she didn't know what he was talking about and that she had to get back to work.

So here he was, sitting at his kitchen table, trying to make sense of his feelings so that he could put them on paper.

_Dear Bones_

No, he scratched that out.

_Dear Temperance._

Now that's better. But he didn't know how to start. I mean he can't launch straight in with the l-word, she would get freaked out and rip up the letter and pretend she never got it.

_Dear Temperance,_

_I wanted to write to explain about what happened in your office today._

That definitely works. Moving on.

_I'm come to develop feelings for you that I can't explain._

No wait, that doesn't sound right. He can definitely explain them. He's in love with her. He knows that.

He twirled the pen in his hand and looked down at the nearly blank letter. He needed to get on with this.

_Dear Temperance,_

_I wanted to write and explain about what happened in your office today. We've been partners for a long time and I know how important it is in a partnership to be honest with each other._

There. That's not bad. The honesty thing is true. He felt the ideas coming and he began to write again.

_To be blunt, I'm in love with you Bones. It might scare you. I know it terrifies me. I worry about everything that could happen. You rejecting me, Cullen splitting us up. But at the same time, I need you in my life. As more than a partner._

He was on a roll now, his pen moving quickly across the page.

_I need you, all of you and I won't accept anything less. I once told you that everything happens eventually, well this is eventually. I need you beside me for the rest of my life._

He stared down at what he just wrote. If that didn't scare her away, he didn't know what would. He raised his pen to scratch it out but then continued.

_If you don't feel the same way, then I understand. But don't run away from this, from us. Please give us a chance._

There. It was short but it should do the trick. He hoped something good would come out of it. Something better than good. He rewrote the letter quickly and shoved it in an envelope, sealing it shut before he changed his mind.

He got his jacket on and made his way over to her apartment, where he propped the letter up against the door. He made himself turn and leave quickly, knowing that in that letter, were words that could completely destroy their friendship.

_**And if I told you how I worry  
Isn't how I always seem to hurry  
And maybe you would understand me a little better  
If I was to write you a letter**_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So I quickly wrote this during my 45-min lunch break, so I hope it makes sense. I apologize for spelling, grammer and any other problems! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I was overwhelmed. Hope you like it!**

_**Tonight you're mine completely  
You give your love so sweetly  
Tonight the light of love is in your eyes  
Will you love me tomorrow? **_

Tonight with words unspoken  
And you say that I'm the only one, the only one, yeah  
But will my heart be broken  
When the night meets the morning star? 

Brennan heard a shuffling at the door and slowly approached, peeking through the keyhole. She saw Booth run his fingers through his hair, place something against the door and turn away. She leaned against the door and sighed.

What happened today in her office shocked her and she didn't know how to react. She knew exactly what he was talking about, even though she pretended she didn't. What he said to her changed them, and she was desperate to regain some semblance of their partnership, their friendship the way it used to be.

He ruined everything.

She peeked out the door and seeing that he wasn't there, cautiously opened it. A letter was at her feet and she picked it up, her fingers tracing over his handwriting.

She turned back into her apartment and opened the envelope carefully. She pulled out a folded letter and started to read, puzzled by the lines throughout the page.

_Dear Bones,_

But then that was crossed out and instead he wrote Dear Temperance. She had to smile at that. Her nickname, once annoying, was now just so…..them.

Her hand shifted the paper and she realized that there were two pages. Lifting up the second, she found a more polished version of the letter.

'_He must have accidently slipped the draft into the envelope.'_ She mused.

She continued to read the draft, her body moving towards the couch. She sat down, never tearing her eyes from the page.

_Dear Temperance,_

_I wanted to write and explain about what happened in your office today. We've been partners for a long time and I know how important it is in a partnership to be honest with each other._

Well that was definitely true. She tried to be honest with him as much as possible. Except for this. She couldn't even be honest with herself about the feelings that were swirling inside her.

She felt a wave of guilt wash over her. He was just trying to be honest and she pushed him away. But that was all she knew how to do. Push people away.

_To be blunt, I'm in love with you Bones. It might scare you. I know it terrifies me. I worry about everything that could happen. You rejecting me, Cullen splitting us up. But at the same time, I need you in my life. As more than a partner._

Her heart pounded rapidly as she read this. He loved her. She knew about his feelings from the way he would do things, but love? That was entirely different. She couldn't handle love, didn't want to handle love.

_I need you, all of you and I won't accept anything less. I once told you that everything happens eventually, well this is eventually. I need you beside me for the rest of my life._

A tear slipped down her cheek at his revelation. He wanted something that she wasn't sure she was able to give. He deserved so much more than her. But at the same time, she knew she wanted him, knew the lust and the sexual tension and something else, something she was unsure of, was simmering in her belly.

_If you don't feel the same way, then I understand. But don't run away from this, from us. Please give us a chance._

She folded up the letter and wiped away her tears. Immediately she moved to her office and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, knowing that she had to respond. But what should she say? She felt conflicted and didn't know what to do. So she lay her head down on her desk and began to cry.

_**I'd like to know that your love  
Is love I can be sure of  
So tell me now, cause I won't ask again  
Will you still love me tomorrow?  
Will you still love me tomorrow?  
Yeah**_


	3. Chapter 3

He sat on the bed with his head in his hands, just like his father used to do. He had saved the bedroom for last and now he was regretting it. It should have been done first, but he couldn't bear to go through their private things.

Even now it felt strange, being here without them. He sighed and started going through the drawers. He pulled out photos, receipts and some other pieces of paper. He moved from drawer to drawer, finding more and more things.

Articles about Tempe in the newspaper, photos of them at the Grand Canyon. He sorted through each of the drawers, throwing out what he deemed unimportant.

He looked around the room and decided not to tackle the closets quite yet. The sight of his dad's crazy ties and striped socks would make him break down, and he couldn't do that yet. He still had a job to do.

He made his way over to 'the chest.' He smiled as he remembered when Tempe brought home the chest, an impulse buy from an antique dealer. His dad teased her all her life about the chest and how much she paid for it, but she just smiled and said it was worth it.

He opened the top, which gave out a little creak, and immediately tears came to his eyes. There were pictures of him when he was little taped to the underside of the lid along with pictures of them on their wedding day.

He pulled out his old baseball trophy, the special MVP one. Next came a carved mask from their trip to Nairobi.

One by one he pulled out item after item, laughing over some, shedding tears over others. He reached for the last item, a stack of envelopes.

"Parker?"

He turned around to see his wife standing in the doorway.

"How's it going?" Denise asked, coming to sit down next to him.

He shrugged his shoulders and she looped her arm around his and rested her head against his shoulder.

"I miss them." He choked out.

She nodded. "Me too. What's that?"

He looked down at the envelopes in his hand, bound together by ribbon.

"I don't know." He replied, pulling off the ribbon and opening the first one.

_'Dear Temperance'_ Parker read.

"It's the letter." He said in amazement.

"The letter?"

"The one my dad wrote that made them fall in love. I didn't think she still kept this."

Parker remembered how his dad used to tease her about the letter and how it made her fall in love with him. She used to retort that she hadn't heard him be that articulate since.

They read the letter together, tears blotting the page. He was amazed to discover there were more letters. Letters they had written when they were apart, love notes he had scrawled to her and left by her bed. Even the infamous marriage post-it was there.

Parker laughed as he remembered what his dad told him right before he was going to propose to Denise.

_'Just be direct about it.' Booth said. 'Don't have a lot of plans. They will blow up in your face.'_

_'How did you ask Tempe to marry you?' Parker asked._

_'Post-it.' Booth casually replied._

_'Post-it?' he said incredulously._

_'We were out to a fancy dinner where I was going to ask her. Then we got called into a case and over the next few days we were so busy. I kept trying to corral her to talk to her, but you know how Bones is when she gets focused. Finally, I got frustrated, wrote will you marry me on a post-it and stuck it to her computer.'_

_'What happened?' Parker asked._

_'I didn't hear from her for the rest of the day and at night she didn't mention anything about it. I figured I scared her off and I was sweating bullets. But the next day, I went to flash my badge to the main suspect and there inside, was a post-it that said yes.'_

Parker and Denise read through each of the letters until they came to the last one. He opened it and found the letter she had written in response to his. He felt Denise squeeze his hand and he looked over at her.

"I love you." He said.

She smiled and reached up to brush the tears away from his face. "I love you too."

They were both gone, but they were still here with him. In his heart and in these letters. For the first time since they had died, he began to feel better.

_Dear Booth,_

_I don't know what to say, I mean I do, but…..this is hard. Harder then I thought it was going to be. You and I make a great team and I don't want to lose that if we start something._

_I'm sorry about today in my office. You looked at me and I got scared. Scared of what we were about to become. No, actually scared about who we already were._

_Because I realized that we are already closer than partners, closer than friends. _

_So I want to give us a chance. _

_Love,_

_Bones._

**A/N: So….how many people are mad at me? I hope you like this ending. I could have gone the whole write a letter, kiss and make up route, but this rang a little truer for me. Plus you still got to see what she wrote! Anyway, it's the end of this one, but I still have Moments, A Charismatic Evil and Family Christmas that I'm posting, if you're interested! Thanks for all the reviews! **


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